Cults

The House of Israel was established by an American fugitive, David
Hill, also known as Rabbi Edward Washington, who arrived in Guyana in
1972. The cult had no ties to traditional Jewish religion but was a
black supremacist movement. In the 1970s, the group claimed a membership
of 8,000. The House of Israel had a daily radio program in which it
preached that Africans were the original Hebrews and needed to prepare
for a racial war. Opponents of the government claimed that the House of
Israel constituted a private army for Guyana's ruling party, the
People's National Congress (PNC). During an anti-government
demonstration, a House of Israel member murdered a Roman Catholic priest
because he was on the staff of a religious opposition newspaper, the Catholic
Standard. The House of Israel also engaged in strikebreaking
activities and disruptions of public meetings. Critics of the government
alleged that House of Israel members acted with impunity during the
government of Linden Forbes Burnham. However, under Hugh Desmond Hoyte,
Burnham's successor, Rabbi Washington and key associates were arrested
on a long-standing manslaughter charge and imprisoned.

Guyana acquired international notoriety in 1978 following a mass
murder-suicide at the commune of the People's Temple of Christ, which
had been led by the Reverend Jim Jones, of Oakland, California. In 1974
the People's Temple, a utopian commune, leased a tract of land near Port
Kaituma in western Guyana to escape from mounting scrutiny of the group
by California authorities. The government welcomed the People's Temple
in part because of its interest in populating the interior of the
country, especially the area claimed by Venezuela, where Jonestown was
situated. Members of the People's Temple also became close to PNC
leaders, and the group was allowed to function without interference from
the government. Allegations of atrocities by commune leaders and charges
that the commune was holding people against their will led a United
States congressman, Leo Ryan, to go to Jonestown to investigate the
allegations of abuse.

Fearing that Congressman Ryan's report on the commune would bring
unwanted publicity and restrictions on his operations, Jones had the
congressman shot as he was boarding an airplane to return to Georgetown.
The United States immediately asked Guyana to send in its army. Before
the army could reach Jonestown, however, Jones coerced and cajoled over
900 members of the commune to commit murder and suicide.